Uηdєяєѕтιмαтєd
by A Silver Nightmare
Summary: She was swift as a coursing river, mysterious as the dark side of the moon, and as bold as a tsunami threatening to wash away all the pain and fears. Regardless, she would always be thought of as weak for her lean figure that radiated vulnerability. Obstacles stand in her way of proving herself to be underestimated as she journeys to find acceptance, her heart, and her home.
1. Chapter 1

**Full summary: She was swift as a coursing river, mysterious as the dark side of the moon, and as bold as a tsunami threatening to wash away all the pain and fears. As respected as she may be, she would always be thought of as weak for her lean figure that radiated vulnerability. But it wasn't true — she wasn't frail at all, and obstacles stand in her way of proving herself to be underestimated. If only she was given another opportunity, another chance, she would've been much better off.**

 **...but it was too late. She had already found her heart, her home.**

* * *

 **ThunderClan - Silverstreak**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 1_**

* * *

Silverstreak shook her fur out and stretched outside the warriors den after a good night's sleep. She noticed it was sun-high and felt a stab of annoyance as she discovered that the sun-high patrol had just gone out.

It wasn't fair — she had never contributed on any decent patrol. But who said life was just? And when she did manage to shove her way into a patrol, she made it clear that she didn't need anymore concerned glances of other cats staring at her in pity! Not that there was any reason to.

The silver she-cat didn't bother to fully acknowledge a cream colored tom making his way towards her, his cheerfulness radiating around him as he padded towards her. Instead, Silverstreak knew that he was just the same as all the others, feigning passion and making excuses as to purposely not let her participate in clan duties. But why make the effort?

It was discriminating, humiliating even, but she had never bothered to speak up for herself out of the knowledge that the other cats would just talk over her, interrupt her, or ask what she had just said.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" purred Sunflight, the deputy of ThunderClan. Although he was considered as one of the most friendly and compassionate cats in the clan, Silverstreak snorted silently at the idea of it. If he actually cared of others thought, he would ask her if she would like to go on patrol! "You seem troubled."

Silverstreak noticed that her sleek silver fur was ruffled slightly and she forced it to stay flat. Her ears twitched with annoyance while her mind reprimanded the deputy to stay away from her.

"Nothing you need to help me with," she replied bluntly as she made her way over to someplace else that wasn't where she was.

"Well, if you need me, I'll be glad to help you!" Sunflight called back cheerfully, his cream tabby fur ruffling slightly in the breeze. His tone was earnest and bright, but Silverstreak knew better.

She gritted her teeth in frustration, telling herself that Sunflight was just trying to be friendly, but deep down in her heart she knew that it was fraud. Silverstreak was okay with living with cats that wanted to help her — she was grateful for that, but imagine living everyday with cats pestering you and assuming that you can't even run a mere patrol!

She headed toward the camp entrance to the forest while carefully avoiding the first patrols that Sunflight had sent out earlier in the morning. They should have been getting back now. She didn't want them to see her, and invade her time and space alone anymore. The day was already going not so well, and she didn't need more cats to ruin her day more.

Silverstreak momentarily suppressed a ghost of a smile on her face as she wondered what the world would be like without any other cats — no more cats constantly reminding her that she was different; that she stood out from all the other cats in her clan. Or if only she was just a normal cat, an ordinary cat that Sunflight would call out without hesitation for a hunting or border patrol.

But she was an ordinary cat.

A light breeze blew, pushing green leaves off of the oak tree Silverstreak was sitting under. The leaves slowly drifted down onto her head as she batted playfully at a large yellowing one, a purr of amusement rising from her throat before vanishing.

She liked the sound of the wind hitting against the leaves of oak and the feeling of freedom and happiness it gave to her as the tree showered her with leaves, unlike the time she spent everyday in camp. Too bad it would only last so long.

It was her only place to be free of all the cats' assumptions and made her hate the cruel, unfair, pitch-black place they called the world a bit less.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

* * *

Silverstreak crept low to the forest floor, her tail lifted slightly above so it didn't drag on the ground and make a scrapping sound that would scare away her prey. She positioned her paws carefully as she slowly stalked towards a unsuspecting mouse chewing on a red berry.

It was so close...she could see the twitch of the tiny rodent's whiskers and it's jaw muscles clenching and unclenching, working quickly to gnaw on the bright crimson berry. Silverstreak glared at it intently as she readied herself to spring.

Silverstreak leaped up to pounce on her prey. In that heartbeat she could see the terror in it's little beady black eyes as it tried to scramble to safety.

Triumph soared through her momentarily as she knew that the tiny rodent was never going to scramble to safety in time. But...

A gray and white blur flashed toward her in front of her eyes as it leaped in front of her, pouncing on her prey. She had to leap sideways to avoid knocking into the cat that stood before her. He killed the mouse that she was stalking with a soft bite to it's throat, a crimson drop of blood gushing out.

 _She_ was the one who was supposed to catch it! She was the one that was supposed to slit it's tiny throat with her fangs, to relish the taste of the rodent's blood on her tongue.

The gray and white cat looked up curiously at Silverstreak, an amused purr rumbling out of his throat. Everyone knew him as he was one of the most respected warriors of ThunderClan.

Silverstreak sighed. She knew the truth that hid deep inside him, coiled up so deeply that no one was capable of seeing past his mask of a personality that other cats decided was too nice, hiding his true character.

"Hello Stormleap," Silverstreak hissed, trying at no avail to let her irritation show, "is there a reason on why you stole my prey right before I was about to catch it? In front of my eyes?"

She felt her own ear twitching out of habit when someone got in her way. That arrogant piece of fox-dung!

Stormleap's amber orbs flashed with an more amused expression than before.

"I stole your prey?" he replied innocently. "I thought you were just fooling around, pretending to catch it like a kit playing with a butterfly."

He started to pad away, but Silverstreak cuffed him harshly on his right ears. She wanted him to know that she was not to be messed with. Red spots danced in her vision, and fiery white-hot rage built up in her belly. Oh, what she would do to slit his throat right now. To see the dark colored blood gushing out of his throat, the same color as the mouse that she should have caught.

"Ow," Stormleap protested, "that hurt!" He dropped the mouse down, licked his paw, and rubbed his ear gingerly. Silverstreak rolled her eyes. He was pathetic.

"At least I'm not as fat as a kittypet like you, you piece of fox-dung!" Silverstreak retorted. A smug grin curled around the corners of her mouth, barely noticeable. "No, I take that back. You're _way_ fatter than any kittypet." She immediately regretted her words as they came out of her mouth, but took her remorse back as she heard his response.

Stormleap turned around curiously, his, no her mouse dangling from his jaws.

"Me, fat? I'm strong, stronger than you! You've got some serious anger issues...and you're too weak, too thin." Stormleap shot back. Silverstreak shook with rage at his disdainfulness.

Silverstreak shook away the thoughts of murdering the conceited tom in his sleep. Depriving him of his life, not that he deserved one anyway. She was shocked by the audacity of his words, how idiotic — how insolent he was! The nerve of that tom!

Silverstreak gave herself a quick look-over. What made ThunderClan think that she was incapable of fending for herself?

They had never said anything really bad about her, but the other warriors implying it in their words was a hundred times worse.

They were too busy thinking that she was too weak because she was too thin and all of that. She had never been to any Gathering before! It was like no one knew she existed at all, but the little bits of conversations that caught her attention at night when the cats around her in the warriors den was enough the prove that she existed, even if the words hurt more than a thorn in one's pad.

If only someone would understand her, attempt to empathize with her, or maybe even challenged her.

 _Challenges._

Oh, she loved a good fight and thirsted for her first real battle. And she had just the idea to be in one soon.

Very soon.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

* * *

Silverstreak swiftly ran back to camp, her lithe frame and her long limbs giving her an advantage of running faster. Not that anyone had ever noticed. They were too busy giving her sympathetic looks or quietly making sarcastic remarks to their friends about what they thought was wrong with her.

Galloping in the light green grass half-covered with the yellow-red leaves of the beginning of leaf-fall, she recalled the time when all the apprentices harassed her and treated her like she was nothing more than a piece of dirt. Even now, she cringed at the horrible memories of being helpless under the other apprentice's harsh words and the dictatorship of the older apprentices.

-Flashback-

"Hey, Silverpaw!" Thistlepaw sneered to the small gray apprentice, who flattened her ears at the sudden remark, "come play with us!"

Silverpaw tentatively padded over to him, studying the arrogant tom with suspicious golden eyes. She forced her fur to stay flat.

"What do you want?" inquired Silverpaw with a slight waver in her voice, but her defiant glare suggested otherwise.

Thistlepaw shrugged, and his mischievous blue eyes darted to his friends curiously, silently asking them to suggest something.

"Let's play fight with claws sheathed! someone recommended. It was one of the apprentice's favorite game, but the main target was always Silverpaw. Before she knew it, everyone was swamped all over her like bees over a honeycomb.

Silverpaw had attempted to fight her way out of the horde of apprentices, but they were too over-eager.

Two apprentices had came at her at once. She was taken by surprise, and her legs buckled helplessly under the weight.

After what had seemed like moons of batting at each other, cuffing each others' ears, and struggling to get back up on her paws, the warriors finally noticed the commotion, and the medicine cat had grumpily rushed over to see to Silverpaw's hind leg in which she had assumed it was broken.

Fortunately it wasn't, but Silverpaw was confined to camp for a quarter moon to recover. If she was a normal apprentice, there wouldn't have been anything wrong with that, but given Silverpaw's small, lithe form, rumors formed from a harmless condition where her leg was temporarily paralyzed from vacuous apprentices targeting her to a broken leg in which a monster had rolled over it.

And the fact that it was in the middle of leaf-bare did not help.

"Too frail, poor thing."

"Based on her shape, I doubt she's going to survive leaf-bare. She's too thin."

She was lucky enough to be made warriors at the same time with the other apprentices, but everyone was always wary around her.

While she was recovering from this minimal injury, Thistlepaw became popular among everyone for defeating a fox that was attacking a hunting patrol he was on. Seeing him with his chest puffed up in pride at his triumph while Silverpaw had made no progress in her training was atrocious to her ego.

Yes, she had an ego. A very large one indeed, though it was now tremendously bruised.

At least Thistlepaw wasn't that much of a bully before. He was too wrapped up in his own pride that he couldn't have cared about anything else.

But she wouldn't have been made warriors with the other fellow apprentices if her mentor hadn't underestimated her and thought she was doing a 'great' job...for a so-called weak pathetic cat that gotten hurt because of a mob of sheathed claw apprentices.

And that made her angry. Why should she be the one overlooked?

-End of Flashback-

The rumors had started spreading throughout camp and before she knew it, to the leader, Jaystar. Honestly, she had expected more of him. What kind of leader would just accept that a 'feeble' cat would never be able to walk and run again?

The leader was convinced that Silverstreak was too weak to even walk around camp let alone keep up with the patrol to the Gathering, so he never chosen her to go.

Not even after when Silverstreak had padded out of the spicy scented medicine perfectly fine — bored, but healthy, the rumors never ceased. She was infuriated at the cats had been talking behind her back even if she didn't show it.

It was the day before the Gathering, and Jaystar was scheduled to choose the cats to go in the afternoon.

Silverstreak doubted that her name would be announced to by Jaystar to go to the Gathering, but she pushed that thought into the back of her head and instead noisily tromped her way into the entrance of camp, her mood completely dampened by the contempt that Stormleap had shown her earlier and by the humiliation of old memories.

"Silverstreak, are you okay?" purred a tortoiseshell queen sitting outside of the nursery as Silverstreak approached. Her belly was swollen with kits, about four by the looks of it. "You look exhausted."

"Yes, I'm okay, Sweetdapple," Silverstreak lied. "And I'm not tired at all."

She sat down next to Sweetdapple anyway, as she favored the tortoiseshell queen since she didn't think or speak badly about her as much as the other cats in the clan. Sweetdapple's belly was swollen with kits and Silverstreak wondered why everyone in ThunderClan was just so...plump.

Silverstreak could've been mistaken for a WindClan cat for her body structure if cats didn't have noses to scent that she was a ThunderClan cat. Though WindClan cats looked scrawny, everyone knew they were fit because of their favour of running.

Just like Silverstreak, but she wasn't a WindClan cat so they would just assume that she was very weak up to that breaking point where she didn't have enough energy to survive the next leaf-bare. Luckily, her silver coat was thick-furred which provided warmth in the cold moons.

"So Silverstreak," Sweetdapple glanced appreciately at her lithe, silver companion, "you're looking good. I wish I was like that right now."

"Was that a compliment?" asked Silverstreak. In her case, compliments were as bad as insults.

Sweetdapple cocked her head to the side, her amber orbs filling with concern.

"Of course it was! I was only saying that because you're so much prettier compared to me." The queen glanced sullenly down at her enormous belly, but her eyes brightened up again. "But after I have the kits, everything will be fine again!"

Silverstreak was astounded at the compliemt, but shook her head. "You don't look so bad yourself. But I have to go now. I'm looking for someone and something."

"Why, thank you!" Sweetdapple exclaimed. "Now what's that someone?" Sweetdapple inquired curiously.

Silverstreak shook her head again. "I'll tell you later," she called back over her shoulder as she leaped from spot next to Sweetdapple when she saw her old bully, Thistlefang, coming back to camp after a hunting patrol. His blue gray fur was slightly ruffled from the wind, giving him almost a handsome appearance while his tail dragged wearily on the ground. Not that Silverstreak would be interested in him, but still. Clamped in his jaws were a two to three voles and a young thrush. He made his way towards the fresh-kill pile to deposit his catches.

"Hey Silverstreak," he greeted her with a small nod of his head as he dropped his thrush and a couple of voles to the fresh-kill pile, "what'd you need?"

"I was just wondering if you'd be up for a...training practice? Since you and I don't get to practice our battle moves much these days,..." Silverstreak trailed off, leaving the blue-gray tom to decide. The tom's handsome features lightened up in surprise.

Oh, she knew Thistlefang loved to practice his combat skills, and that he would never turn down a fight.

Thistlefang nodded confidently, obviously looking forward to this practice. Silverstreak almost snorted at his confidence, his ignorance to what she was trying to prove.

"When?"

Silverstreak pretended to think about it, even though she already knew what she wanted — what she _needed_ to say.

"How about right now?"


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

* * *

"Now?" Thistlefang's blue eyes scrutinized her curiously, obviously wondering why such a subordinate cat would be so unperturbed. When Silverstreak showed no sign of backing off, he shrugged.

"Fine. Let's go to the area where the apprentices train. No one's there now, so I think it'll be fine."

He led the way, and Silverstreak hissed the cats that were gawking in bemusement and quietly pondering what she, inferior to the excellent Thistlefang, would be doing with him. But her clan-mates quickly shuffled away as she gave them a dark glare.

"Here?" he asked, turning around to face her as he stopped in the middle of the grassy clearing. Silverstreak gazed around, remembering the time where she twisted her leg in that very area.

She dipped her head once in acknowledgement. The other cats had always thought that the silver she-cat never heard or paid attention to their questions since she rarely used words to answer, but either Thistlefang wasn't one of them, or he just didn't care if she answered or not.

He was so different from the bully that always got in trouble in his apprentice days. If only he wasn't so arrogant back when he was an apprentice, Silverstreak wouldn't have been injured in the first place, and the following events may have never happened. But it was too late for regrets and grudges — the only thing she could focus on right now was the present, which led to her future.

Silverstreak saw the muscles in his legs bunch up a heartbeat before he lunged. She ducked and rolled right under him, tinkering a little with his balance.

Assuming that she was just lucky to dodge him, Thistlefang swiped at her, aiming for her muzzle. She dodged again and executed a sidekick.

Thistlefang blocked her kick, bowling into her as he realized that it would take much more than a blow to bring Silverstreak down. He pummeled at the silver she-cat's ears, but she darted out of Thistlefang's paw extension.

Thistlefang was fast — much faster than she was. Silverstreak could certainly see why the other cats admired his skills and agility. And he had the advantage of weight too. But Silverstreak was smaller and harder to reach. She made sure to never stand where his blows landed, crouching so she was a smaller target and leaping away before her opponent could bring down a paw to strike her.

Thistlefang had obviously practiced combat everyday. Silverstreak recognized the blows and kicks from various cats in the clan. She had seen the apprentices trying to imitate the older warriors, although their movements were quite slow and crooked.

She scuffed dirt in his face. He hissed in pain and turned away to rub the dirt out of his eyes. By the time his vision had cleared, she had already darted around him, concocting her next move.

Silverstreak clambered up Thistlefang's back, his attempts to shake her off making her ascension look clumsy. She hooked her front paws around his neck as the tom tried to lower his chin to kick her off, but it was already too late. She held firm and tightened her hold as he struggled to breathe.

He tried desperately to unbalance her with a kick of his hind legs, but her hold was too good, too strong.

Silverstreak used her shoulder to shove him into the dirt without letting go. He choked and sputtered, weakening rapidly as she applied more pressure.

It took a long time, almost like moons until he finally gave up.

Silverstreak loosened her grip and released him.

She stood back as she watched him recover, examining the tom with wary eyes while he redeemed himself, observing for hints of abrupt attacks. But victory triumphed over her cautiousness, and she felt a burst of satisfaction.

Thistlefang had struck her much more than she hit him, but in the end, he was the one the ground.

He turned and shook off the dirt on his pelt, choking and coughing when the wind gusted his pelt with the dust again.

"Ugh, this is horrible!" complained Thistlefang. "Being defeated is okay, but being blustered repeatly by dirt and wind isn't!

"We should go back to camp," she replied quickly, dropping the subject.

"You have to teach me your strategies! So then in a border patrol skirmish, we'll send the other clan's back with their tails between their hind legs!" Thistlefang insisted, causing Silverstreak to falter in step as she turned to return to camp. Maybe she shouldn't have showed off in front of ThunderClan's most "greatest" warrior? She shook the thought away, and tried not to let her distress show.

Thistlefang mistook her shake of her head as a no to his request, his blue eyes darkening in disappointment.

"Fine," he sighed. "I'll have to find out another way then."

They padded back to camp in silence, Silverstreak pausing momentarily to scare a sparrow off it's perch from a tree whose leaves were yellowing, turning into a crisp and golden color.

By the time they returned to camp, it was around sun-high, the time where most cats would eat. Silverstreak went and seized her favorite — a squirrel, before anyone else could claim it. Cats packed around the fresh-kill pile to choose their meal, and she quickly slipped out of the crowd before anyone could notice her.

"Hey, Silverstreak."

She turned to see Thistlefang looking like the forever alone cat that she was, not the well-liked and admired cat he was. "Want to sit with me? My friends aren't back yet, and it's awkward sitting alone."

For a popular warrior, maybe.

Silverstreak hesitated, and then tentatively took a small pawstep towards Thistlefang.

Maybe she'll finally get accepted...one cat was a start at least.


	5. Chapter 5

_I'm talking to myself in public_  
 _Dodging glances on the train_  
 _And I know, I know they've all been talking about me_  
 _I can hear them whisper_  
 _And it makes me think there must be something wrong with me_  
 _Out of all the hours thinking_  
 _Somehow I've lost my mind_

 _—_ **Matchbox Twenty, Unwell**

* * *

 _ **Chapter 5**_

* * *

Silverstreak took a large bite out of her squirrel, the warm and juicy taste of it vanishing as she glanced up to see skepticism composed on her clanmates' faces. She didn't know which they found more odd — eating a lot and not getting so fat or just sitting with Thistlefang. Probably both.

"At first, I thought you were to flimsy and delicate to actually do something," Thistlefang mused, glancing up momentarily at her before averting his gaze and turning to his meal. He had grabbed a thrush but he had barely eaten save for a large bite on it's stomach. "But I guess I was wrong."

Silverstreak cringed as she spotted other cats angling their ears at their direction, careful to not cast skeptical glances at them to avoid suspicion. They tried but failed as she saw Stormleap look up at her in bemusement before quickly turning away.

Silverstreak could feel the bewilderment and tension in the air as her clanmates refused to meet her glare. She felt discomfort and insecurity pulsing through herself while taking a small bite from her squirrel.

"How are you so fast?" she asked after a moments pause, careful to avoid talking about herself to avoid further glances and interrogation.

"I'm not fast, everyone else is too slow," Thistlefang chuckled, "but you're great at dodging and leaping high. I could never do that," he commented.

Out of the corner of her eye, Silverstreak saw some eyes widen in surprise and confusion. She felt a flicker of complacent a twinge of disappointment replaced it.

The other cats' expression were incredulous, and she knew they would never believe anything out of one cat. It was like Thistlefang had just blurted out that Jaystar was actually a rabbit in disguise, although that was really outrageous.

A few cats chuckled at the thought. To them, it was insane — impossible even.

 _Yet they don't know how insane they are themselves,_ Silverstreak thought.

Silverstreak's pelt burned in embarrassment, ducking her head.

"Thistlefang!" a throaty but cheerful voice called out from behind them. Thistlefang dipped his head once in acknowledgement for his friend to sit with them.

"Hey, Timberleaf," he greeted, turning his attention to him. The ThunderClan cats muttered and sighed in frustration as they weren't interested in what someone who spoke loudly like Timberleaf had to say.

"So, what's she doing here?" inquired Timberleaf, glancing at the silver she-cat curiously. "How in StarClan did you get Silverstreak to speak?"

"Well, she's our new friend," Thistlefang told him, flicking his tail impatiently.

"Hm, okay. She's cool then, I guess," the black tom dismissed the tension with a small wave of his tail, his green eyes rolling at Thistlefang's irritation. He swat a paw at Thistlefang's right ear.

Silverstreak snorted at their exchange, shuffling her paws as she pushed away her half-eaten squirrel. She wasn't hungry anymore, the aftermath of the pressure of her clanmates' eyes boring into her, burning her pelt as they uncovered bit by bit of her deepest fears and secrets.

"Are you going to eat that?" inquired Timberleaf. He didn't wait for her response, and instead dug into the half-eaten squirrel.

* * *

 **LINEBREAK LIKES CHICKENS.**

* * *

"Let all cats they are able to catch their own prey gather at the HighRocks for a clan meeting!" the ThunderClan leader, Jaystar, yowled as he scrambled up onto the HighRocks. Silverstreak rolled her eyes as he lost his balance on the edge, almost toppling over before he corrected his footing and clumsily settle down on the rocks.

"I'm going to announce the names of the cats that are going to the Gathering tonight," Jaystar declared, glaring at the cats that were snickering about his cumbersome leap up to the HighRocks.

Silverstreak held her breath in anticipation. It was improper for a cat that had never been selected to a Gathering to be overlooked in the next one, merely because the leader didn't want her to go.

"The cats that are going are Thistlefang, Cherrystrike, Ashwind, Pineclaw, Stormleap, Nightfrost, Tigerpaw, and Frostpaw," the gray tom meowed, preparing to leap down from the rocks. "Any objections?"

Silverstreak expected to feel disappointed since her name wasn't called, but instead she experienced anger and the urge to shout out the unfairness, the cruelty of it all despite her timid character. However, she never got the chance.

"What about that one cat that had never been to a Gathering?" Timberleaf asked loudly. "It's unfair!"

"I don't think she's strong enough to make it," Jaystar stated bluntly.

Silverstreak bristled in aggravation. "Just who do you think you are?" she hissed.

"Jaystar," Thistlefang interrupted before the gray tom could respond, "You have never given Silverstreak the privilege before, and every single warrior in the clan except her has attended a Gathering. Don't you think that maybe this is unreasonable?"

Some cats like murmured in agreement but others just looked on in interest.

Jaystar sighed, lashing his tail in annoyance. "Very well. She can come, but don't blame me if she is unable to make it. Meeting dismissed."

Cats padded by, averting their stare, but Silverstreak noticed anyway. She turned her back towards them, squeezing her eyes shut and hoping that they would vanish.

"You know, I only did that since you gave me your squirrel," Timberleaf meowed, his cheerful attitude permeating its way through his words. "That was fun, defying Jaystar. Maybe I should do it again."

Silverstreak shook her head at his exuberance, a diminutive smile curling on her face. She would get to go to the Gathering.

But that still didn't solve her problems.

* * *

 **Happy fourth of July! :)**

 **Go down.**

 _— note written on December 23, 2015._ _—_

 _ **[This is the chapter that I have edited thoroughly so far. I have improved my writing skills, and as I have looked back to this story, I've realized that there could definitely be more improvements and editing necessary for awesomeness.]**_

 _ **-Ninja G-slayer**_


	6. Chapter 6

"Silverstreak, wake up! Jaystar is gathering all the cats for the Gathering and you can't miss it!"

Silverstreak blinked open one eye, but when she heard the term "gathering," she bolted upright.

Thistlefang loomed over her, putting his the paw that he had prodded her with to wake her up. Silverstreak had decided to take a nap before the Gathering as most cats do, but obviously Jaystar wanted to leave her here sleeping so that she wouldn't go.

"C'mon, they're leaving!" Thistlefang raced quickly to the line of cats that were padding out of the camp entrance, Silverstreak on his heels. Her head was still woozy from sleep, but she managed to catch up Thistlefang anyway. Silverstreak and Thistlefang squeezed past the cats that were slower than her to be in the middle on the patrol.

As Jaystar lead ThunderClan to the island for the Gathering, he made no attempt to look behind him for Silverstreak. It was probably because he thought that she was still sleeping in the warrior's den or she was already behind, since she was so 'weak.'

"We're getting close the water," meowed Thistlefang.

Silverstreak didn't care much about the water, as long as it didn't get on her fur.

"So?"

A large branch came into view, and he nodded at it.

"You'll have to step from the land to the branch," he told her.

Silverstreak watched as the RiverClan cats hopped across, their fur ruffling in the wind. A cat, smaller than the rest of the other cats, possibly an apprentice, managed to jump to the branch, but he lost his balance and tipped sideways. The cat behind him grabbed his scruff and hauled him back on track. ThunderClan followed behind and stepped carefully across.

 _Easy, as long as you don't lose your balance._

When it was her turn, she leaped across easily. She had longer legs than regular cats and they were good her springing. Silverstreak made sure that every step she took was straight, but she unsheathed her claws just in case she lost her balance so she could dig her claws into the wood.

The near full moon shone brightly in the sky as the cats gathered on the island. The moon wasn't completely full yet, and the clans weren't all present yet. They were still waiting for WindClan and Silverstreak thought she spotted small figures of cats scrambling swiftly over the branch to the island.

The tree with the four branches that were supposed to hold the clan leaders were drenched in moonlight. Jaystar sat on the branch highest to the left, a dark brown tabby that blinked down on the cats in which Silverstreak assumed was the leader of ShadowClan because of her mysterious pose was sitting on the branch right across from Jaystar's. A sleek white she-cat with ginger patches was curled up right under Jaystar's branch, and Silverstreak couldn't help but notice how plump she looked like compared from the other clan leaders.

 _RiverClan seems harmless and naïve, but fat._

"W-what do I do?" Silverstreak asked, nervous with all the cats milling around her. She could easily distinguish the mixed scents of different clans — pine needles in ShadowClan, the scent of the river water in RiverClan, and the scent of her own clan. Since WindClan wasn't here yet, so the leaders were waiting impatiently for them. None of the cats paid attention to her, since they were in their own conversation with the other cats.

"We just talk to other cats, though we don't get too close to each other," Thistlefang replied, "just go and meet new cats."

A ginger tom padded by and nodded at him. Soon they were both engrossed in their own conversation like the rest of the cats all had.

"New here?"

Silverstreak turned around, startled as a black she-cat padded silently to her. She had silver streaks over her sleek black pelt and she smelled of pine trees.

 _ShadowClan._

"I haven't seen you around before," the black and silver she-cat meowed. She sat down next to Silverstreak with a sly look in her golden orbs, tail curled in a stealth-like position.

"That's because this is my first gathering," Silverstreak snapped, suddenly angry at Jaystar for not letting her go to gatherings before.

"It is?" she asked, surprised, "usually you go the moon when you're made an apprentice, but I guess ThunderClan does things differently. My name is Fallensong by the way."

"I'm Silverstreak," Silverstreak added after a moment of silence. She wasn't one of those cats that were outgoing and talkative, and wasn't surprised that Fallensong knew what clan she was in.

"Well nice to meet you then," Fallensong purred.

"Hi Fallensong!" a voice squeaked, and Silverstreak discovered it belonged to a blue-gray she-cat that looked about as old as an apprentice. A white tom the same size as her shifted his weight shyly before turning to stare at her with his eyes that looked like chips of ice.

"Hello Thornpaw and Snowpaw," Fallensong greeted.

"Who's that?" asked Snowpaw, blinking his icy blue eyes at her curiously.

"This is Silverstreak," Fallensong trailed off, "and she claims this to be her first Gathering, which is hard to believe. Silverstreak, these apprentices are Thornpaw and Snowpaw from RiverClan. They're in their third moon of being an apprentice."

"Hi," Silverstreak mewed shyly, "pleasure to meet you."

"You too! You're pretty," meowed Thornpaw cheerfully.

 _I am?_

Out of the corner of her eye, Silverstreak saw WindClan's leader leap up the tree in which all the leaders were sitting. She noted that the WindClan leader was about the same size as her. He had short gray-ish fur with wide blue eyes.

 _So I'm not weak after all, if there's other cats like that,_ she thought. Her head was still ringing from that compliment Thornpaw gave her.

She had barely any time to process the information before Jaystar rose and announced the beginning of the Gathering.

"All is well in ThunderClan," Jaystar meowed.

"Though one of our morning border patrols report that there was a badger in our territory, but they chased it out. I'm afraid it's in ShadowClan by now, but that'll be your problem now, Shadestar," he informed the dark brown tabby sitting across from him. Shadestar gave him an annoyed sigh and turned away, bristling.

"ShadowClan has nothing to report," Shadestar announced coldly, and she seemed to disappear into the shadows as she backed up on her branch.

"ShadowClan always has nothing to report," hissed the RiverClan leader.

"RiverClan is well, and there is plentiful prey in the rivers now that it's new-leaf. Minnowshine is expecting Blacktail's kits, and that is all RiverClan has to report."

The clans murmured in congratulations that seemed to be directed to a sleek silver she-cat and a black tom that had his tail curled around her. Blacktail, she noted, had a proud glow in his eyes, and Silverstreak saw Fallensong purring in support.

"They're both really nice cats. But I don't know about Patchstar." Fallensong told her. Silverstreak nodded and wished them the best even though she didn't know them.

All the leaders turned to the WindClan leader.

"What's his name?" asked Silverstreak.

"Gorsestar. How do you not - oh yeah, it's your first time here," Snowpaw replied.

"WindClan is doing well, and hunting is just as usual. Other than that, we have nothing to report."

Jaystar waited for a few moments before declaring that the Gathering was over.

"RiverClan, let's go!" Patchstar called, waving her clan-mates over with her tail.

"Bye!" Thornpaw and Snowpaw raced to their leader, fur ruffling in the breeze.

"Bye Silverstreak. See you next time, whenever that may be."

Silverstreak turned around only to see Fallensong already vanishing into the shadows of her clan-mates.

 _She's fast. And quiet._

"Silverstreak!" Thistlefang called to her as Jaystar stared at her in shock.

 _Guessed I didn't make it here, did you?_ she thought scornfully.

She raced over to her clan-mates not wanting to slow them down.

"Did you meet anyone from the other clans?" inquired Thistlefang. Silverstreak nodded quickly and turned to follow the patrol.

Thistlefang nodded in approval. When the cats got back to camp, Silverstreak immediately yawned and curled up in her nest. She was glad to have gone to the Gathering, and no cats seemed to think of her as odd because of her figure. Not at the Gathering that is, but in ThunderClan, she knew it would still be the same.

But she'll show them alright. She'll show them that she was not to be messed with.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for the three reviews! That means 6 cupcakes for the depressed cats in total.**

 **Jerome —** **You suck at the plot diagram thing. xD I mean, the fic you read was finished already so it had the complete mountain, but right here in my fic we start off slowly and then launch it in. I mean it in a good way though. If you understand and study the plot mountain more, you'll be a great author, my friend. :)**

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Silverstreak awoke to the sound of Sunflight, the deputy, arranging patrols. By the sound of it, the last border patrol was already leaving and he was starting to arrange the hunting patrols. Almost one moon had past after her first Gathering; the next Gathering only one sunrise away.

She held back the flicker of annoyance in her as she discovered she was the only cat in the warrior's den, the other warriors not bothering to wake her up. Silverstreak emerged from the den and trotted over to where the other cats were waiting and listening to Sunflight call out the names of the warriors that he wanted on a hunting patrol.

"I want Fernwhisker to lead the hunting patrol. Take Thistlefang, Nightfrost, and —"

"Can I go?" asked Silverstreak, cutting him off. "I never get to do anything."

Sunflight hesitated and Silverstreak made her eyes as big as moons to look pleading. It always worked for her when she was a kit, and there was no reason it shouldn't work now.

"Alright." Sunflight meowed. "Take Stormleap with you."

Siverstreak cast a dark glance at the bulky gray tom. She struggled to keep in a hiss of frustration as he stepped forward to follow the hunting patrol. Pure hatred blazed in her golden orbs, but she decided she would keep far away from him while she was hunting. Silverstreak still hadn't forgotten that a few moons ago when he had stolen her prey right out of her paws, and she was about to make good pounce too!

It could've been any other cat to accompany them, but no, it just had to be him. But now was the chance to prove to ThunderClan that she could hunt as well or better than they could, as long as Stormleap didn't interfere. She had never been more desperate to prove herself just as good as all the other cats and silently threw insults at herself for her old foolishness.

 _I should've been able to hunt everything in the forest last moon and maybe all this wouldn't be happening..._

Fernwhisker, a tortoiseshell she-cat, flicked her tail to lead the way. The cats pushed themselves out of the thorn barrier entrance of their camp and followed. Silverstreak opened her mouth to scent the air for prey, but there was nothing so far. The breeze carried the scent of a storm and Silverstreak glanced up at the sky to see it was dark and heavy with rain.

 _We've got to find prey before the rain comes and cleans away the scent trails._

"I think there's enough prey around here," Ferncloud meowed. "We can split into two groups. Me a Nightfrost will be a group, Thistlefang and Stormleap will be another, and since there's five of us, Silverstreak gets to pick where they want to go."

Despite her bitter hatred towards Stormleap, Silverstreak chose to go with Thistlefang and Stormleap. She didn't really know Fernwhisker and Nightfrost well, and she wasn't being left out by them.

It wouldn't be so awkward around Thistlefang. Silverstreak liked the mature and kinder side of him instead of the annoying apprentice before. Over the one moon, she had grown close to him and Timberleaf, but only as friends. The other ThunderClan cats kept watching her, but eventually they lost interest and left her alone. Timberleaf would pull all kinds of silly pranks on her, and Silverstreak always felt a warm flicker of something new in her belly. Something she had never felt before, but enjoyed. She cast a glance at Thistlefang. _Does every cat feel that way when they hang around friends?_

A sound interrupted her thoughts. Silverstreak looked up to see a sparrow landing on the forest floor a few fox-lengths before her. Stormleap had gone somewhere else, probably stalking a vole.

Then she leaped. The sparrow gave a squawk of terror as it tried to fly away from her, but Silverstreak's claws tore right through it's wings. She delivered a killing bite to it's neck to end it's suffering.

"Nice catch. It's pretty big for a bird," someone commented from behind her. She whipped her head around to look.

Thistlefang appeared with a few mice clamped between his jaws. Silverstreak was already scraping leaf mulch over it over her sparrow and shoving it in a bush.

"It's barely enough to feed two cats. I'll need to catch more," she meowed.

"There's a scent trail of a rabbit I think, from where I just came from." Thistlefang flicked his tail to point where it was and hid his mice in the bush where Silverstreak's sparrow was while she went behind him to sniff the air. There was definitely the scent to a rabbit, and Silverstreak felt her mouth water since rabbit was her second favorite food.

"I'll come with you," offered Thistlefang. Silverstreak barely acknowledged him, already following the trail. He had to leap to catch up with her.

They stopped when the scent of the rabbit went past the WindClan border. Silverstreak sighed, disappointed as she hadn't eaten rabbit for a long time.

"It's okay," Thistlefang meowed, resting his tail-tip at her shoulder. "We can get it next time."

At end, Silverstreak caught three voles plus the sparrow she caught earlier while Thistlefang had a large squirrel and the mice that he hid in the bushes.

Stormleap appeared a little later, with a catch of a pair of baby voles and a measly pigeon. Silverstreak rolled her eyes at his surprise when he saw what she had caught. She did better than him, all right.

"We're all here now, so let's go back to camp and drop it all off in the fresh-kill pile after Fernwhisker and Nightfrost get here," Silverstreak meowed. Thistlefang agreed, though Silverstreak noted that Stormleap looked a little uneasy. She didn't know why, but she enjoyed that expression since it was amusing.

They waited for the other two cats before heading back to camp. The cats squeezed through the barrier of thorns guarding the camp entrance and Silverstreak made sure that almost everyone was watching when she dropped off her prey. Her clan-mates nodded in approval at the large amount of prey the whole hunting patrol had caught.

The day was going so far, so good for Silverstreak. She didn't want to ruin that, but she decided to stop by the nursery and the elder's den since she it was her turn to take care of them. The other warriors would try to make her get out of it, but now they didn't care anymore since they didn't think as much of her figure anymore. Silverstreak was just as thin as she was a few moons ago, so she assumed they just got used to it.

Grabbing two voles in her jaws, she began heading over to the nursery and dropped the voles at Sweetdapple's paws at the nursery. her kits were due any day, and Silverstreak wished for her to be as comfortable as possible.

"Thank you, Silverstreak," Sweetdapple purred.

"You're welcome. I'll be at the elder's den just to entertain them since there's no apprentices to do so," Silverstreak meowed, thinking about Rainsplash, the other queen who was nursing. She was also Thistlefang's mother and taken care of Silverstreak when she was a kit. After Thistlefang had been made into a warrior, she was expecting kits again. Her kits were now about three moons old and was ready to become apprentices in a three moons. Silverstreak was excited because then the warriors didn't have to do all the apprentice duties, not that she hated it, but clearing up other cats' dirty old bedding was not fun.

"Oh." For a moment seemed a bit Sweetdapple seemed crestfallen but she brightened up again just as soon as she had became downcast.

"You should come back later to come play with Rainsplash's kits!" she called as Silverstreak padded to the medicine cat's den to get some mouse bile to treat the elder's ticks. The queens' and the elders' bedding had already been removed earlier in the day by some warriors that were trying to be helpful, but they didn't pick out their ticks.

She stopped at the entrance of the medicine cat den and poked her head in to see the medicine cat, Sootwhisker, back turned arranging all kinds of strange-scented herbs.

"What'd you need? And don't touch anything," the golden tabby snapped. ThunderClan's medicine found everything annoying, but Silverstreak decided not to let that bother her.

"I need some mouse bile for the elders," she replied.

"Here. Now get out."

Sootwhisker pawed over some of the mouse bile for the corner of the den and Silverstreak wrinkled her nose at the smell. She picked it up loosely in her jaws before padded over to the elder's den.

The elders that occupied the den, Sandstrike and Lightheart, were curled up next to each other, but not touching. Sandstrike blinked open one eye to glare at her before closing it again.

"Well, I'm here to take care of your ticks," Silverstreak mewed, trying to sound too nervous. The elders were nothing to be afraid of, but she hadn't visited the elders ever since she was an apprentice.

"Right here, somewhere on my back."

Lightheart flicked her ginger tail to gesturing her over. Silverstreak sighed and ran her paw against Lightheart's bony spine, searching for the tick. The elder grunted a little as she rubbed against the tick. Silverstreak grabbed the mouse bile and pressed it against the tick. The tick released it's grip on Lightheart, and Silverstreak began checking if there were any more ticks.

"Sandstrike, you have any?" asked Silverstreak, trying not to sound bored. Normally when she was still an apprentice, the elders would tell her stories about their life as a warrior.

"No, I'm fine," Sandstrike meowed, opening his amber eyes once again. He seemed to sense her boredom as she turned to leave. "But talk to us first. It's so empty in here since there's no more apprentices, and the other warriors always seem to be too busy."

"Well, you have anymore stories to tell?" asked Silverstreak, curious. She lied down in front of the elders.

Sandstrike hesitated, but the brown tom shook his head. "No, I don't think I do."

"I have a story."

Silverstreak turned to Lightheart, "Really? Tell me."

Lightheart gazed at her so solemnly that she thought that the elder was a statue.

"It's one of those cheerful stories I always told you while you were an apprentice," the old ginger she-cat warned. "But I'll tell you alright."

Sandstrike starred at her with wide amber eyes. "I don't think I've heard this before then."

"No," she meowed. "So listen."

"Silverstreak, moons before you were born, I was not yet an elder. I was a proud warrior, and one of the best hunters in the clan," Lightheart paused, her eyes darting around to see like she did in the old days if her audience was listening. They were.

"So one night, one of the younger warriors, Petalfern slipped right out of camp using the dirtplace when the cats on guard weren't looking."

Sandstrike's eyes widened in surprise. "Petalfern?"

"Yes, remember Petalfern, that beautiful silver she-cat?" purred Lightheart. He nodded and glanced at Silverstreak, but Silverstreak had no idea who she was. Lightheart's gazed darkened. "She died." That explained why Silverstreak didn't know her.

"That day I was on guard, and of course I noticed so I followed her out. Sadly, I was not able to find out where she was going that day since she discovered that I had been following her halfway since she scented me after the wind changed direction. I was disappointed in myself, I was so close in to catching her doing something. Petalfern told me to forget about it, but I was suspicious, being the cat I am," she continued.

"I kept close tabs on her. She saw me watching her, of course. After a moon, I decided that pesky warrior wouldn't do anything else since she never snuck out after that time when I followed her, so like she said, I forgot about."

The elder's amber eyes brightened like they always did when she was getting to the good part in her story.

"But what did she do, that young warrior? She noted that I was getting messy on keeping her in my sight and assumed that I forgot about all it," she meowed dryly. "She forgot I was a hunter. And a hunter never lets their guard down. I couldn't sleep that night but I kept my eyes half-closed. Then I saw her sneak out again, so a followed."

"This time however, she didn't notice that she was being followed. The wind was blowing towards me in my benefit and I tracked her to the WindClan border. Guess what she was doing? She was meeting with a WindClan warrior. Yes, one of those fox-hearted WindClan warriors. It was torturing lurking behind a tree, and I wanted to leaped out and dig my claws into that warrior who Petalfern was rubbing muzzles with. We don't need half-clan cats in ThunderClan! Obviously, I didn't do what I wanted so badly to do, but I started back before she could."

Lightheart paused, looking down at her paws for a long moment, enough for Silverstreak to think that the story was over. She started to get up, but Lightheart finally continued.

"I didn't tell anyone about that, but Petalfern kept shooting me glares. I could only assume that she discovered my scent somewhere when she was padding back to camp. I caught her leaving several times after that day, but I didn't follow, knowing that it was her problem that she was secretly meeting with a WindClan warrior."

The elder suddenly rolled her eyes. "And that foolish she-cat just had to be expecting kits! No one questioned who their father was. While she was pregnant with those kits, I became an elder because it I was beginning to become too slow to hunt and fight. Anyways, Petalfern died while giving birth, and it was only to one kit. Still half-clan though."

Lightheart then starred at Silverstreak intently. She felt uncomfortable, sitting there, shuffling her paws.

'What happened to that kit then?" she asked. Sandstrike coughed behind her and Lightheart fixed her amber gaze on her.

"That kit was raised by Rainsplash," Sandstrike mewed, his golden eyes boring straight into Silverstreak.

The truth slowly dawned on her. Rainsplash had and raised her own kits, Thistlefang and his sister, Cherrystrike. She had also nursed Silverstreak, but she was not her real mother.

Silverstreak was the half-clan kit.

"I-is the story real? Am I really half-clan?" she stammered, praying to StarClan that the elders were playing a joke on her.

Her heart sank when Lightheart nodded, her amber orbs cold as she starred back at her.

Silverstreak turned tail and ran.

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 **There! A long chapter, about 2,700 words. This took forever to write, and please tell me if I have any mistakes in this chapter since it's just...long.**

 **I spent hours on this...and still, it is not perfect. Also, I noticed I haven't mentioned who Silverstreak's parents were, so there.**

 **1 brownie for the depressed cats for every review!**

 **Review, favorite, and follow if you liked! **

**-Silver**


	8. Chapter 8

**I got 18 reviews for the last time I updated, so 18 brownies! :) 18! Guess all those hours working on the last chapter was worth it...xD**

 **But...since my fav.'s and follow's haven't been growing, (and favorite and follows just make me so proud of myself) 1 follow will be 1 cupcake, and 1 favorite will be 1 brownie. :3 This is just to remind/encourage/whatever you to do it, and if you don't want to, it's fine. Just review.**

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A droplet of rain plopped down on Silverstreak's head, dribbling down her face and onto the forest floor.

She was in the forest, under the oak tree that had always sheltered her when she was angry at the treatment her nosy clan-mates had given her. Sivlerstreak sighed and curled up right next to the oak tree as the sky began to sprinkle rain down on her. The oak did it's best to shelter her from the rain, but there were not enough leaves to stop the rain from falling down on Silverstreak. Being her normal self, she would've ran and seek more protective shelter, but now, she just didn't care.

 _Am I really half-clan?_ she thought. _They have to be lying._

She had never really questioned her real parents were as a kit, and never thought really much about it. Rainsplash never told her anything, she just did her job and took care of her. But it made sense though — how else could she have been as lean as a WindClan cat but also strong?

Silverstreak glanced up at the sky; the rain was starting to pour harder. She imagined if the sky had a soul, crying, it's tears trickling down to the earth. Silverstreak felt her own tears starting to fill up in her eyes, threatening to spill.

 _I'm helpless, but crying doesn't help at all,_ she thought, and blinked hard to get rid of her tears. _What do I do now?_

Silverstreak suddenly remembered that there was a Gathering tomorrow, and Jaystar was going to announce the cats that were going to the Gathering today. The truth the elders told her about her parents was so sudden, it took her by surprise.

 _I have to be at the Gathering._

She wouldn't worry about being half-clan right now. She shouldn't be. What was more important that moment was heading back to camp to see who was going to the Gathering, since she wanted badly to talk to Fallensong, the mysterious ShadowClan she-cat. Silverstreak would go whether Jaystar let her come or not; it was her decision, not his.

*(*)*

It was sunhigh when she headed back to camp, despite that there was no sun and instead dark gray clouds. She was grateful the sky was overcast, the hot sun hidden behind the protective clouds. Silverstreak could see the clouds moving, rolling over to the mountains by the strong wind that also ruffled her fur.

She started padding toward the fresh-kill pile to grab something to eat. All the best prey had been given to the elders and queens. The warriors had lots of mice and voles left for them in the pile, but Silverstreak never liked the taste of rodents aside from squirrels. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw brown streak flashing towards her.

"Hey! Want to share this pigeon with me?" asked Timberleaf trotting towards her with the pigeon in his jaws.

"Sure," Silverstreak replied. The chestnut colored tom led her over to the side of the clearing where the wind wasn't so strong. She was glad for it, since having longer fur meant that when the breeze came, it would blow her fur into her eyes.

"Where's Thistlefang?" she asked. He was always at camp before sunhigh, but today he was no where in sight.

"Searching for you," Timberleaf answered before letting out a mrrow of laughter at her confused expression. Silverstreak took a bite out of the pigeon. It wasn't as good as a squirrel, but it'll have to do for her.

"He saw you dash out of the elders den and figured that you were upset about something you he went to find you. At least, that's what he told me," Timberleaf shrugged, "but I don't think the elders would say anything that'll make you upset, so I'm just assuming there's no problem."

 _Should I tell him that I'm half-clan?_

No, she wouldn't. Silverstreak was torn as she felt that she should confess the shameful truth of her messed up family, but why spoil Timberleaf's great mood? He was happily tearing into the pigeon, her problems indifferent to him.

"You want the rest?" Timberleaf asked. Everything except the head had been torn apart and eaten.

"No," Silverstreak shook her head. "I don't like the heads."

Timberleaf shrugged and started gnawing on the rest of the bones. "I don't like them either."

Silverstreak waited a long moment before looking up and finally seeing Thistlefang bursting through the entrance of the camp. His amber gaze darted around camp anxiously, but he perked up when he saw his friends.

"Hi Silverstreak," Thistlefang meowed, gasping for breath in what seemed to Silverstreak after a long run. "I was searching for you after you bolted out of the elder's den. You seemed worried for some reason."

"Yeah, I know," Silverstreak flicked her tail dismissively, "I would've stayed out there, but since Jaystar's going to announce who's going to the Gathering tomorrow I came back. No need to worry."

Thistlefang eyed her anxiously.

"You can tell us anything you know. We're your friends."

It took Silverstreak more than a moment to process his words. Sure, they were friends, but even friends have to keep secrets from each other.

"I'm running away."

It was the first thing that she thought of, and she had said it aloud too.

"Why? B-but why? Is it just the other cats judging you because of how you look? You know that's over already!" Timberleaf exclaimed, a little bit too loudly. Silverstreak cast a worried glance at a few other cats that were starring. They quickly turned away, but not before Silverstreak had caught sight of them. One of those cats was Stormleap, and Silverstreak was judging whether or not to go over there and wipe off the smirk on his face.

She was too meek to growl and snarl at the other cats as she wished too...if only she could be intimidating, maybe everything would be alright. But she was so far away from that.

"Be quiet!" hissed Thistlefang sharply. "We don't want to bring that up again, especially in front of other cats! It'll just remind them that Silverstreak is different from them, and they'll keep starring at her again!"

"Sorry," Timberleaf muttered in a quieter voice. "But why? Where are you going to go, and when?" Silverstreak opened her mouth to speak, but a loud voice interrupted her.

"All cats able to catch their own prey, gather at the foot of the HighRocks for a clan meeting!" Jaystar yowled. The other cats scurried to the HighRocks from their spots around the clearing, but Silverstreak padded wearily to the rocks. She knew that there was only a slim chance that Jaystar would choose her to go to the Gathering.

"I bring you all hear to announce that cats that are going to the Gathering. They will be Timberleaf, Fernwhisker, Maplefrost, Bluestripe, Thistlefang, Sandstrike, and Lightheart."

Her friends cast her a glance of sympathy, as they knew how much she wanted to go to the Gathering. If you said embarrassment hurt, other cats giving you a look of pity in their eyes was just as painful.

"That is all. The Gathering is held tomorrow." Jaystar leaped off the HighRocks and every cat returned to what they were doing.

"Sorry," Thistlefang murmured. Silverstreak didn't respond.

"So where and when?" demanded Timberleaf.

"I-I don't know. I'm just going to run one day, but it may not be in a few moons or so. So don't be surprised if the camp finds me gone, and you guys better not tell," Silverstreak replied hastily.

"Why? Why would you run away? There's no one, nothing bothering you. There's no need to go," Thistlefang shook his head. "But I guess it's your choice."

Silverstreak cringed when she remembered the words that Lightheart had rasped while she was telling her story.

We don't need half-clan cats in ThunderClan, Lightheart had said. But how could she tell her friends that she was half-clan without being rejected? It would be horrible to come back to the loner she was moons before, and Silverstreak shuddered at the thought of it. She didn't know how they felt about half-clan cats, nor did she wanted them to find out.

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 **AN: I'm posting this as soon as I get back up after twelve hours of sleep. Review, favorite, follow...be awesome. Silverblaze, if you're reading this, I have something to say to you.**

 **I like chocolate.**

 **2 blueberry muffins donated to the depressed kitties...for every review. I read all of them, and SilverGhost, this probably will be about more than 30 K words. I'm still planning on the plot...and on the last last chapter, I lied. We were on the exposition still.**

 **Huggies,**

 **-Silver**


	9. Chapter 9

**14 blueberry muffins were sent to help the depressed kitties get over their depression! (Which meant that I got seven reviews at the time of the last update.)**

 **This isn't my best writing here...but I'll still try to tweak it a little.**

 **Also, I'm going to create a playlist of music (any song that fits each chapter the best) for every ten chapters. Okay? Okay.**

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A bright full moon hung in sky, illuminating the dark night. It was the day of the Gathering.

Jaystar had gathered all the ThunderClan cats in front of the HighRocks while Silverstreak pretended to be sleeping in the warrior den. She didn't open an eye when she scented Thistlefang headed slowly to the other warriors. She guessed that Timberleaf was already at the front of the clearing, since he had stated that he was going hunting before Silverstreak decided to sleep in the warriors den.

The other cats that weren't going were asleep in their nests, breathing gently or snoring loudly.

"ThunderClan! Let's go!" Silverstreak heard Jaystar's voice yowl. She immediately tensed up and bat open her eyes, wanting to go with them, but not before making sure that the other warriors wouldn't catch her sneaking out.

 **XxXxX**

The moon seemed to grow larger and brighter as Silverstreak neared the island. She padded quickly on the branch of the tree to get to the island, her tail sticking tail out for balance. RiverClan, the last clan to get to the island, were fox-lengths ahead of her, and by the looks of it, the Gathering was going to start soon. Silverstreak quickened her pace as the cats gathered around the oak tree where the leaders sat, radiating authority.

She padded into the crowd of cats casually, as if she was chosen to go to the Gathering. None of the ThunderClan cats noticed, as they were to busy mingling with cats from other clans. Silverstreak glanced around for Fallensong, but she didn't see the silver ShadowClan cat. Maybe she wasn't chosen to go to the Gathering? Something told her that Fallensong would still go despite her leader's words.

"Hi Silverstreak!" a voice chirped behind her. She turned to see Thornpaw, one of the RiverClan apprentices she had met the last Gathering.

"Hello Thornpaw," Silverstreak greeted the small blue-gray she-cat. Thornpaw had grown during the last moon, looking much more larger. Her fur was sleek and shiny, while her dark blue eyes gleamed brightly.

"My brother didn't get to go to the Gathering today since he scraped his paw on a rock while hunting," Thornpaw mewed. She continued, "it was a really big rock! Bigger than your paws. He said it hurts when he moves it, but it's just a little scrape!"

Silverstreak glanced down at her paws. They were normal sized, and she couldn't imagine any rock looking that big.

"Thornpaw!" Thornpaw glanced behind her at large golden tom. Silverstreak assumed that he was her mentor.

"I have to go to Goldenblaze now since he needs something. See you later!" the blue-gray she-cat trotted up to Goldenblaze.

Silverstreak turned around and sat where she was, bored. She was still surprised that the other ThunderClan cats didn't know that she wasn't supposed to be here or rather, they didn't care.

"Hello there," a voice purred behind Silverstreak. A dark gray she-cat came up beside Silverstreak. She was long-legged and her amber eyes flashed curiously at her.

"Hi?" Silverstreak asked, not sure what to do.

The dark gray she-cat sniffed her. Silverstreak flinched away from the stranger but opened her mouth slightly to take a whiff of her scent. WindClan.

"I've never seen you here before, and I know everyone in ThunderClan. My name is Hazelfur, and I'm assuming that you know I'm from WindClan, since you have a nose," the gray she-cat let out a _mrrow_ of laughter. Silverstreak didn't join in. "Who are you?"

"My name's Silverstreak," Silverstreak replied.

"Silverstreak," Hazelfur echoed. "That's a nice name, it suits you."

"Thanks," Silverstreak muttered.

"Hazelfur!" Fallensong crept up behind Silverstreak and burst in-between her and the WindClan cat. "Oh, I see you've met Silverstreak. She's nice," Fallensong added. Silverstreak didn't know if she meant her or Hazelfur.

"Well, nice to meet you, Silverstreak," Hazelfur purred. Her amber eyes darted to a black tom. "I'll stop bothering you guys for now. There's lots of other cats to annoy."

The dark gray she-cat scampered off, Fallensong watching with amusement. The silver and black she-cat then turned back to her. "Well, you met more cats. That's nice. We have some catching up to do, don't you think?"

"Yes," Silverstreak nodded. She opened her mouth to continue, but a yowl split the air.

"Let the Gathering begin!"

* * *

 **AN: Yes, I ended it there because I didn't want to write anymore or else it'll be another 2,000 word chapter. Long chapters are hard to edit, so yeah. (Not that I edit much anyway.)**

 **Two peanut butter cookies for the depressed kitties for every one review, favorite, and follow. I'm hungry, so please review to avoid starvation! jk**

 **To those of you who like warriors high school stories, I have published one. Just go to my profile (scroll up and click the link on my name there on the right) click hide bio and then you'll see all my stories even though you guys already know who to do that!**

 **Review that one too! And fav. and follow. :)**

 **-Silver**


	10. Chapter 10

**_Chapter 10_**

* * *

 _"_ RiverClan will announce our news first," a white she-cat with ginger patches on her fur announced, stepping closer towards the end of the branch she was sitting on. The branch shifted under her weight, but the leader kept her balance. Silverstreak remembered her name was Patchstar from the last Gathering.

Silverstreak noted that a majority of the ThunderClan cats sat towards the front of the crowd of cats, and tensed as Thistlefang glanced back. She crouched down to hide her head behind a large brown tabby from ShadowClan, even though he had already spotted her.

Thistlefang narrowed his eyes, and shook his head slightly, but turned back. Silverstreak flattened her ears glanced around nervously, but no one had noticed the quiet exchange. Not even Fallensong, who was always very observant. She was narrowing her amber eyes at the ginger and white leader.

"The rivers have been generous to RiverClan this newleaf," Patchstar purred, her gaze sweeping over the crowd of cats below her. "Our fresh-kill pile is stocked high of prey. The melted snow from leafbare has melted into our rivers, and we are a little concerned about having a flood."

The ginger spotted warrior stepped back, and her eyes seemed to glow brighter as she did.

Jaystar stepped forward. "ThunderClan is doing well, and like RiverClan, our fresh-kill pile is also full of prey." He paused as Patchstar gave him an annoyed glare for no apparent reason. "That is all for ThunderClan."

The remaining leaders, Gorsestar and Shadestar both glanced at each other, silently debating who would go first. Gorsestar appeared to have won since Shadestar gritted her teeth stepped forward with a sigh.

"ShadowClan has lost a well respected warrior, Darkheart, from a fox attack recently," she hissed, her golden orbs glittering maliciously like two twin moons in the darkness. A few ShadowClan warriors hung their heads in sorrow, but Fallensong just snorted.

"Fox-dung!" she growled softly into Silverstreak's ear, "all he did was harass the she-cats and take the best prey!"

Silverstreak had never met this Darkheart before, but from Fallensong's description of him, he didn't seem worth meeting with.

"We successfully killed the fox and are doing well, despite the dreadful news," Shadestar continued, "and it's all because of ThunderClan, since they chased it in ShadowClan's territory." She glared at Jaystar from the corner of her eye. He ignored it casually, staring straight ahead. "That is all ShadowClan has to report."

"I have no idea what to say about this," Fallensong muttered.

Gorsestar stepped forward next, breaking the tension. "WindClan is also doing well, and one of our warriors, Stormwhisker, has moved to the nursery. Rabbits are abundant on the moors, and there is no trouble at all for WindClan."

The light gray leader stood on his branch, waiting for one of the other leaders to declare that the Gathering was over.

No cat spoke, Shadestar glaring at Jaystar while he met her gaze with his own. Patchstar and Gorsestar waited awkwardly on their branches. The moon was still shiny brightly in the sky, though little bits of dark gray clouds were threatening to cover it as Silverstreak glanced up.

"The Gathering is over," Gorsestar meowed lamely after a few moments before leaping off his branch. Shadestar turned her back to the dark gray ThunderClan leader and leaped off of her branch gracefully, her paws barely making a sound as they touched the ground.

Silverstreak noted that Thistlefang was glancing wildly around for her, but she crouched down behind Fallensong to hide her head. This time, it worked, and it looked like he assumed that she had already darted back off to camp.

"Hm, Shadestar has some anger issues," Fallensong mused, glancing at her leader. She turned, her eyes shining regretfully at Silverstreak. "I guess I better go now." ShadowClan cats were starting to follow their leader as she padded towards the direction of the branch that led to the camps. Fallensong turned to go, but Silverstreak stopped her.

"Hold on," Silverstreak mewed. Her friend paused to wait for Silverstreak to scramble to her side. "I just need to ask you something. Won't be long at all."

"Yeah, what?" Fallensong asked. She and Silverstreak were the only cats that were on the island, not counting the ones that were heading ShadowClan cats had already disappeared from the island, and they could only see the tail-tips from the other cats of the clans as they bounded over the branch to their camps.

"What would you do if other cats judged you?" asked Silverstreak, her voice low. Fallensong's curious eyes darkened.

"It depends on how they judge me. A little bit is okay, but when actions speak louder than words," Fallensong took a moment to pause then continued, "when actions speak louder than words, that means trouble. And you've got to do something about it."

Silverstreak nodded, mulling over the words. "I guess that makes sense," Silverstreak sighed, looking up at the stars, wishing they would guide her to the right direction.

Fallensong too, gazed up at the stars. "The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they? I like this island – that's why I sneak to the Gatherings every moon when I'm not picked." Fallensong gave her friend a crooked smile.

"You weren't picked to go to this Gathering?" inquired Silverstreak, not at all surprised. She had only met only her friend twice, but she already knew Fallensong like she was kin. It was just like what the elders' said when she was an apprentice and wanted them to get to the point of their stories. "You can't know the background of the characters in just a few moments" one of the elders had snorted, but it seemed like Fallensong was an exception.

Fallensong glanced back at branch where the other clan cats had disappeared off to their camps.

"I guess I'll be going then," she sighed, glancing ruefully back at Silverstreak. The moon's bright light glinted off her well-groomed silver and black pelt, and her amber eyes shined in the darkness like twin moons.

"I guess," Silverstreak responded, trotting alongside with her friend. The rippling water of the lake was a light gray in the moonlight as they leaped over the branch to land. A chill shot up her spine as a icy wind blew at the side of her face.

"Bye," Fallensong meowed as soon as she stepped into ShadowClan territory that was right next to ThunderClan's. Clouds started to gather around the moon, moments later covering it as the wind grew stronger. The moonlight shrouded the clouds, disappearing slowly.

"Hope to see you on border patrols," Fallensong meowed. Or maybe the next few Gatherings," she added cheekily.

"Yeah, see you! And I wasn't invited to this Gathering either." Silverstreak called back over her shoulder as she flicked a good-bye with her tail. She didn't check to see if her friend had turned around to respond.

It was time for a change. It was time to do something.

It was the perfect time to run away.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11**_

* * *

A icy breeze buffeted Silverstreak's fur, causing her to shiver at its cool touch. She ignored her instincts telling her to return to camp, to curl up in moss somewhere in the entrance of the warriors' den, yet staying forever trapped in a clan that refused to acknowledge her true potential. Instead, she advanced on, making her way out of ThunderClan territory.

Silverstreak felt something cold fall from the sky and land on her fur. She shook it off as more drops followed, turning into a constant rhythm. _Rain._ Turning her head up to the sky, she noticed that the moon had vanished, now covered with dark gray storm clouds a few shades lighter than the night sky.

The forest seemed to move in her wake, and even the cry of a sparrow seemed to startle Silverstreak as she trudged on, every step growing heavier as the clouds pelted her with larger drops of rain. She was soaked from head to tail with water, trembling as another freezing blast of wind swept orange leaves loose from the tree branches high above her head.

Silverstreak collapsed, her resolve weakened from the rain weighing down her fur. She willed the rain to stop pouring, but it just came down harder, stronger as she dragged herself to cover under a tree, it's branches bare excluding a few yellow leaves. Her paws felt too heavy to move, her pelt soaked with raindrops. She didn't know that it would be this cold – it wasn't earlier. Now her paws felt numb, weightless, but her paws refused to move forward despite it, and her body seemed to be frozen in place. Perhaps being confined somewhere in the warriors' den back at camp, miserable but dry and warm would be better.

 _Thump. Thump. Thump._

Confusion flickered in her mind, and the numbness seemed to spread rapidly through her veins, freezing every part of her in place. Raindrops trickled down her whiskers like the tiny streams near the WindClan border.

Out of all the ways to die, it would be by nature, the cold winds coming in and freezing her paws in place. By the time her clan-mates found her, she would be dead, her body stiff and hardened by the cold. They would be full of sorrow, of grief, of regrets of the ways that they had treated her. Or maybe everyone wouldn't care less about her death. After all, she wasn't significant to the clan since they never let her contribute. It was pathetic.

 _She_ was pathetic.

She was no more other than a burden in her clan, in this cruel and unforgiving world.

 _Pathetic. Weak._

The insults Silverstreak had grown up hearing permeated into her mind. A stab of anger pulsed through her, giving her just enough strength to rise up before collapsing again.

It was too cold. The rain to aggressive, descending rapidly from the sky. The wind too strong, blasting her with it's icy breath.

 _No_ , she thought, trepidation zipping down her spine like a monster down a Thunderpath. _I can't die like this._

"Help me!" she begged in an imploring whisper, begging someone to come and help her although she knew that she was alone in this situation. She continued, louder this time. "Please, help me! I don't want to – I'm not ready to- "

She couldn't finish the sentence, because if she did, her already weakening resolve would give way. She couldn't get up, hating the feeling of her life draining slowly out of her. A shudder of chills raced down from Silverstreak's spine, paws twitching uncontrollably from the icy touch of the frigid air. Her eyelids started to drop, but she didn't fight it.

Numbness. An array of golden light just beyond her reach.

Her heartbeat accelerated, her life blurred, spinning around her confused thoughts.

 _Thump. Thump._

Hope imploded. Possibilities that anyone could help her vanished.

The sense of living didn't come to mind, only the problems that she had to put up in her life. The weight of all her burdens crashing down upon her shoulders did nothing to assuage the piercing chill, the aura of death.

 _No! Please! I'm not ready!_ she cried silently with dread in her mind. Her body betrayed her thoughts.

She drew in a shaky last breath, her body growing more numb and went rigid in her fight with the cold.

 _Thump._

* * *

 **I'm sorry. :(**

 **But, to lighten up the mood, Merry Christmas!**

 **Don't end up like Silverstreak!**

 **-N.G. Silver**


End file.
